Now known as Mount Shasta City (it was renamed in 1924), the town of Sisson in northern California lies in the shadow of Mount Shasta, a dormant volcano, and is near the Shasta National Forest, which had been inaugurated by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1905.

A Shasta Forest ranger was required to possess multiple skills. According to the local paper, the Sisson Headlight, minimum requirements in July 1905 included competence in pistol and rifle shooting, horsemanship, compass navigation, use of an axe, "the ability to tie a diamond hitch knot to lash freight to a mule" and sufficient literacy to write reports.

The article didn't mention fire-fighting, though this also proved essential, particularly in July 1914, when what was later known as the "Big Fire" threatened the very existence of the city, at one point getting within a quarter of a mile of its outskirts. When the fire was finally extinguished (with the aid of much of the town's civilian populace), four square miles of foliage had been burned to the ground.

Ironically, two days after the forest fire had been defeated, a second, unrelated fire broke out in the town itself and destroyed nineteen buildings before being put out.